Preliminary hearing for Caruthersville police chief to be next week

CARUTHERSVILLE, Mo. -- A preliminary hearing will be held next week for Caruthersville police chief Chris Riggs, who has been charged with allegations of forgery and stealing thousands of dollars from the city's Criminal Investigation Fund.

Riggs was scheduled to be in court for the hearing Nov. 14, but his lawyer, Curtis O'Bannon Poore of Cape Girardeau, filed a motion to push the hearing back. A new court date was set for Jan. 9.

The defense filed a separate motion Oct. 14 asking the court and prosecution to produce documents in relation to the case and charges against Riggs.

A criminal affidavit filed with the court details 24 counts of forgery and one count of stealing Riggs is being charged with, and 11 counts of forgery against another city employee, Marcus Hopkins, who served as a Bootheel Drug Task Force agent. The document said that Hopkins' role in the alleged crimes involved him forging signatures and amounts paid for phantom Bootheel Drug Task Force expenditures.

The expenditure logs Hopkins was signing for as a Bootheel Drug Task Force supervising agent were actually an attempt to cover up the fact that Riggs was writing checks to Hopkins and then forging Hopkins' signature to the checks before cashing them at a local bank, investigators said. Riggs allegedly wrote checks from $500 to $6,000 over a nearly two-year period.

The documents also say that during an interview, Hopkins said he had "not given Riggs permission to forge his name on the actual checks" but had only agreed or discussed forging receipts to account for the missing funds.

Hopkins indicated early in the investigation that he would be resigning as an officer with the department and agent of the Bootheel Drug Task Force, and Riggs has since been placed on "administrative paid leave" by his department. Assistant chief of police Tony Jones is serving as acting chief of police.

Court records show that Hopkns' lawyer, Daren K. Todd, filed a motion for discovery Nov. 23, followed by a change of venue and judge request Dec. 12. A hearing has been set for 10 a.m. Feb. 7 at which Pemiscot County Judge Fred W. Copeland will give his answer on the requests.

At Hopkins' recent arraignment hearing, he waived his right to a formal procedure and entered a not guilty plea. He agreed to reappear in early February to move forward with the case.

The men are out on $200,000 bond, which were posted in early October.

Pertinent address:

Caruthersville, Mo.